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Louisville Bats pitcher Pedro Villarreal, center, leads his teammates in a jogging warm-up at the Bats’ baseball practice at Slugger Field on Wednesday. Their season begins Friday, and the home opener will be April 10.(Photo: David R. Lutman/Special to The Courier-Journal)

The Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds will begin its 144-game season Friday. The Bats will start with a six-game road trip, with stops at Toledo and Columbus, Ohio. They will play their home opener April 10 against Columbus.

The team has been in town since Friday. Louisville played an exhibition game against the Reds Saturday.

"Opening Day is always exciting," manager Jim Riggleman said. "It'll be real exciting when we come back here in front of our home crowd. The players have put in a long spring training. They are itching to play games that count."

Left-hander Jeff Francis is slated to start the opener. This is his second stint in Louisville, having pitched here in 2012. Francis signed a minor-league contract with Reds as a free agent in January. He had been with the Colorado Rockies since June 2012, when he reportedly asked for his release by the Reds and signed with the Rockies.

When Francis pitched for the Bats, he posted a 3.72 ERA. He has a career 2.89 minor-league ERA.

"I'm definitely ready," Francis said. "I did some things in camp that I definitely needed to improve on consistency-wise. That's what makes good pitchers great. It's the consistency of making pitches down in the zone."

Riggleman said the biggest question for Louisville is sorting out bullpen roles. Jose Diaz (1.66 ERA, 13 saves in 2013) returns, but there other relief job that have yet to be determined.

"It's a fluid situation," Riggleman said. "When you make moves in early in the season, you're not sure how he's going to handle this role. Because quite often in his career up to this point, he's been a starter, a short-reliever that's now in middle relief. That'll be interesting the first week or two."

Contact Michael Grant at (502) 582-4069, and on Twitter @MichaelGrant_CJ.